Sony Hack Results In The 'Best Week By Far' For Confidential Messaging Apps

The recent Sony Pictures hack has everyone thinking of what would
happen if all their private emails and messages were leaked, and
that means business is booming for confidential messaging apps.

"We continue to see a big surge in downloads," Mark Cuban
tells Business Insider.

Cuban's app, Cyber Dust, is described as "WhatsApp meets
Snapchat," and allows users to send messages and photos that
self-destruct after 30 seconds.

Cuban is also a prime example of how some confidential messaging
apps are now more secure and off-the-record than email clients.
Just last week, hackers
released an email conversation between Cuban
and Sony Pictures Television President Steve Mosko,
where it was revealed Cuban wasn't happy with his compensation on
Shark Tank.

Cuban says it could have been worse.

"I moved the negotiations for Shark Tank to Cyber Dust
before the hack," Cuban said, pointing out that only the
negotiations carried out over email leaked, while the rest
carried out through his app remain safe. "The fact they remain
private proves it works."

Cyber Dust messages "never
hit a hard drive."iTunes

Other confidential messaging apps like Confide have also seen a
big spike in downloads as people search for a solution that will
keep their messages safe.

"I would be comfortable saying best week by far across all
metrics," Confide cofounder Jon Brod tells Business Insider.

Confide's killer feature is its screenshot protection, which
forces users to drag a finger across each word to reveal the
message beneath.

Your browser does not support the video tag.
ConfideA look at how Confide's screenshot prevention works.

This makes it extremely difficult to take screenshots, as only
part of the message is visible at any time, and multiple
screenshots are impossible as each message self-destructs as soon
as the first screenshot is detected.

But while confidential messaging apps like Confide and Cyber Dust
are great for the average conversation, people use email very
differently than a messaging app. For example, many of the emails
between Sony execs and the directors, actors, and startup
founders they were conducting business with often discussed a
contract or referenced past emails, which can be tough to
transfer into the instant-message style of apps like Cyber Dust
or Confide.

So where's the email version of these apps?

Cuban didn't specify if an email version of Cyber Dust was being
developed, but he did recommend using an application like
Blue Stacks, which
allows users to use their smartphone apps on their desktop or
laptop computer.

Confide's screenshot prevention trick hinges on the limited
functionality of smartphones. But it's far easier to use your
mouse to take a quick screenshot of your computer's screen — and
there's just more room for people to get creative and take
advantage of loopholes.

"We are very focused on the question of photos and
documents," Brod tells us. "We are working on desktop because we
think that's incredibly relevant and important to our target
audience. We are very enamored with email, such that we have
begun a level of Confide integration into email."

Jeff
Grossman, Confide's chief product officer, mentioned two separate
challenges with integrating Confide into email: There's
end-to-end encryption, and then the disappearing and
screenshot-proof part. Grossman says not only does the email
server responsible for transporting emails need to be encrypted,
but in order for emails to self-destruct, "you need
to be able to trust any clients that interact with the
service."

There are plenty of additional
technical challenges to be worked out before we see a Confide
email version hit the market, but the Confide team knows the
demand has never been greater.

"Yes there are technical
challenges in all of this," Brod says, "but I think we've done a
decent job overcoming those."

In the meantime, if you or your
company is looking for a safe way to communicate, you can
download Confide right here
and Cyber Dust here.